Hero’s Square

My first weekend I was able to head out and explore some of the city. I went with my roommates and a friend to Hero’s Square (Hősök tere) and the park behind it that was home to a temporary exhibition: Art on the Lake.

Its so hard to believe that I was actually there and in front of it after all the photos I’ve seen of the square. The monument was built in 1896 to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of the arrival of Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin where Budapest is situated. It is now a UNESCO heritage site.

The monument consist of two semi circles which have statues of the leaders of the seven tribes that founded Hungary in the 9th century and other important figures in Hungarian history. On top, on the corner pillars are figures that represent war, peace, work and welfare, and knowledge and glory. In the centre, the column is a statue of the archangel Gabriel, a symbol of the Roman Catholic religion, and at the base are seven mounted Magyar chieftains who brought the Hungarian people here.

Afterwards, we headed to check out Art on the Lake, which is quite literally, art on a lake. The exhibits used the fact that they were on water to their advantage. We rented out a boat and took turns paddling it around the man made lake.

The exhibit was created in part to recognize the Hungarian chair of the Council of the European Union. Over twenty sculptors form the EU were invited to display their work in the lake.

It was pretty cool to paddle around on the lake and to be able to get up close to the exhibits. All in all, a good day of randomness.